Denmark in World War II: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 21:16, 26 August 2005

Revision as of 15:46, 29 August 2005

Line 50:

As the years dragged on the population became increasingly hostile to the Germans. Soldiers stationed in Denmark had found most of the population cold and removed from the beginning of the occupation, but their willingness to cooperate had made the relationship cordial. The government had attempted to discourage sabotage and violent resistance to the occupation, but by the [[autumn]] of [[1942]] the numbers of violent acts of resistance were increasing steadily to the point that Germany declared Denmark "enemy territory" for the first time. After the battles of [[Battle of Stalingrad|Stalingrad]] and [[Second Battle of El Alamein|El-Alamein]] the incidents of resistance, violent and symbolic, increased exponentially. In [[March]] [[1943]] the Germans allowed an election that embarrassed them by giving good results to anti-Nazi parties. The election, discontent, and a growing feeling of optimism that Germany would be defeated led to wide spread [[Strike action|strike]]s and [[civil disturbance]]s in the [[summer]] of 1943. The Danish government refused to deal with the situation in a way that would satisfy the Germans, so on [[August 29]], 1943 the Germans officially dissolved the Danish government and instituted [[martial law]].

When German troops invaded the Naval Dockyard in the morning of August 29, 1943, orders were issued by the Danish naval command to scuttle their fleet. Of the fifty-two vessels in the Danish Navy, two were at Greenland, thirty-two were scuttled, four escaped to Sweden, and fourteen were taken undamaged by the Germans [http://www.navalhistory.dk/English/History/1939_1945/us_safari.htm].

After the fall of the government Denmark was exposed to the full extent of Nazi power. In October they decided to remove all Jews from Denmark, but thanks to information leaks and [[Rescue of the Danish Jews|swift action on the part of the population]] at large almost all of the Jews were transported safely to neutral [[Sweden]]. [[Sabotage]], unencumbered by government opposition grew greatly in number and severity, though it was rarely of very serious concern to the Germans. There were some successes such as on [[D-Day]] when the [[train]] network in Denmark was disrupted for days, delaying the arrival of [[Reinforcement (military)|reinforcement]]s in [[Normandy]]. An underground government was established and the [[illegal press]] flourished. Allied governments who had been sceptical about the commitment to fight Germany in Denmark began recognizing it as a full ally.